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Which DAW is for you?

All audio interfaces in the Scarlett 2nd Gen range ship with a comprehensive suite of software applications and plugins, so you can start making music right out of the box.

Alongside the Focusrite Red Plug-in Suite and Softube Time and Tone Bundle, the headline acts are two extraordinarily powerful and creative desktop audio workstations (DAWs – virtual recording and production studios, essentially): Avid Pro Tools | First and Ableton Live 9 Lite.

Both include everything you need to produce complete tracks from start to finish – multitrack audio and MIDI recording, playback and editing; virtual instruments and effects; arrangement and mixing tools; and much more – but each has its own particular workflow and feature set, so which is right for you?

The industry standard professional DAW, found in studios around the world, Avid Pro Tools 12 is a recording and mixing powerhouse. The entry level Pro Tools | First takes many of its features and simplifies the setup process to get the novice up and running quickly.

If you’re an instrumental musician, singer-songwriter or band looking to capture everything from rough ideas to final sessions, perhaps integrating external effects hardware and mixing tools, Pro Tools | First is the ideal production platform.

The first-call DAW for electronic music and live performance, Ableton Live is renowned for its innovative, non-linear approach to composition and arrangement. The Session View lets you literally ‘play’ your project and create arrangements on the fly, before locking down a finished structure and mix in the Arrangement View.

For producers of dance and electronic music, laptop DJs and live performers, Live 9 Lite is the software studio of choice.

With Pro Tools | First and Live 9 Lite each specialising in its own style of music production – and, of course, both bundled with your Scarlett 2nd Gen audio interface – wouldn’t it be great if you could somehow merge the two into a sort of hybrid super-DAW? Thanks to Propellerhead Software’s ReWire technology, you can…